


alone, together

by jjunnie (huichuu)



Series: together, forever [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Ficlet, Fluff, Jun is Very Fond, M/M, Somewhat, Soulmates, and Gyuhao are V Soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 16:54:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12798525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huichuu/pseuds/jjunnie
Summary: "He’s my best friend; I don’t know what I’d do without him, and I love him to death–but I’m not in love with him, if that makes sense. You don’t have to be in love with someone to be their soulmate. You just have to care about them and want what’s best for them…and that's more than enough for me."or Minghao and Junhui are soulmates, but not in the traditional sense of the word.





	alone, together

**Author's Note:**

> This is the bare bones of an idea I've been thinking about for a while. Like most of my fics, it's set in an alternate universe that hasn't been fully developed yet, but I got excited and jumped the gun and ended up writing an excerpt anyway. You know, just typical Rylan-behavior.
> 
>  **[UPDATE 01/01/18]** Rewritten and revised. Happy New Year!

“Doesn’t it bother you?”

 

Junhui has always known that the subject was bound to come up sooner or later, but he hadn’t figured that it would happen so soon. He feigns confusion, furrowing his brow as he glances curiously at Soonyoung over the stack of textbooks and papers in front of him.

 

“Doesn’t what bother me?” Junhui asks, smiling gently at the younger. _Go ahead, ask. It’s alright; I won’t be upset._

He knows Soonyoung well enough to know that it’s an innocent question; there is no malice or ill will behind the words, just genuine curiosity. 

 

“Uh–“ Soonyoung swallows thickly and fidgets with the sleeve of his sweater, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as he works up the nerve to ask the question everyone’s been dying to know the answer to.

 

“Myungho-yah’s…thing with Mingyu. It doesn’t bother you?”

 

“No, not particularly. Haohao’s twenty-one; he’s more than capable of taking care of himself.” Junhui shrugs. “Should I be bothered it? Mingyu’s a good kid. He treats Minghao well.”

 

There’s another uncomfortable pause.

 

“But…you’re soulmates, aren’t you?” 

 

This time, it’s Seokmin who speaks up. He’d previously been too engrossed by his assignments to pay their conversation any mind, but now he’s staring at Junhui like he’s grown a second head. Junhui’s used to it by now; it’s to be expected. In a society that believes so heavily in fate and destiny, his relationship with Minghao isn’t exactly conventional–to say the least.

 

Junhui’s been friends with Minghao since they were kids. He remembers the day Minghao’s family had moved in next door. He remembers the shy, wide-eyed four year old who’d clung to his mother’s hand and stubbornly refused to greet Junhui and his parents when they’d introduced themselves and welcomed the Xu family to the neighborhood.

 

Junhui remembers chasing Minghao around the neighborhood and terrorizing their neighbors. He remembers spending his days playing video games at Minghao’s house, climbing trees with Minghao, petting puppies with Minghao–Junhui remembers it all.

 

Minghao’s always been a constant in Junhui’s life, which is probably why no one was surprised when they both woke up the day of Junhui’s eighteenth birthday with the characters of each other’s name permanently inked onto their wrists. Even their parents hadn’t been fazed; they’d all just smiled and congratulated them when they found out.

 

_Did either of you really expect anything different?_

 

They dated for a while after that. Life continued on as normal: Junhui and Minghao were still best friends, were still attached at the hip, only now they held hands and kissed sometimes. It was fine. It was safe. It was comfortable. They were content. Nothing had changed.

 

Maybe that’s why their relationship was so short-lived, lasting a grand total of two and a half months before they both decided that they were better off as friends. Mingyu had come along a couple months later, clumsily stumbling his way into their lives and into Minghao’s affections. It was easily the cutest thing Junhui had ever seen, watching his best friend uncharacteristically stutter and blush, all because of a cute boy.

 

Junhui must have taken a second too long to answer because two near-identical looks of panic spread across Soonyoung and Seokmin’s faces, and he practically _hears_ the siren bells going off in their heads.

 

“Not that we’re prying or anything!” Seokmin blurts out, desperately trying to backtrack. “You don’t have to tell us anything if you don’t want to. It’s none of our business anyway!”

 

Junhui shushes him. “No, it’s fine. It’s not like it’s a secret or anything. Yes, Minghao and I are soulmates, but no, we aren’t together. Our relationship isn’t like that.”

 

“But I’ve seen your marks! You both have each other’s names! You’re _meant_ for each other!” Soonyoung protests, immediately wincing afterward when Seokmin pointedly elbows him in the side.

 

“We are,” Junhui agrees easily, “but not romantically. We tried dating once, back when we were still in high school, but nothing came of it. He’s my best friend; I love him to death–and I have no idea what I would do without him–but I’m not _in_ love with him. Does that makes sense?”

 

Junhui glances over to where Minghao’s studying with Mingyu nearby, the former’s cheeks flushed as he shoves lightly at Mingyu’s shoulder before Mingyu pulls him into his arms. It’s a familiar scene Junhui’s seen hundreds of times before, and it warms his heart each and every time it happens.

 

“You don’t have to be _in_ love with someone to be their soulmate,” Junhui continues. “You just have to care about them and want what’s best for them, and right now? Mingyu is what’s best for Minghao. He makes him laugh and smile, and that’s more than enough for me.”

 

His gaze drifts over to the black-haired boy quietly browsing the selection of books in one of more isolated corner of the library–the one who, underneath the sleeve of his oversized sweatshirt, has Junhui’s phone number scrawled sloppily across the back of his hand–before it returns to Soonyoung and Seokmin’s bewildered faces.

 

Junhui grins, “And besides, I like someone who isn’t my soulmate too.”

 

Soonyoung and Seokmin shout so loudly that the librarian asks them to leave, and Junhui can’t even bring himself to be annoyed about it even though they continue to badger him with questions on their way back to the dorms. The looks on their faces are absolutely _priceless_. He can’t wait to tell Minghao all about it.

 

It’ll be hilarious.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> some notes about this 'verse
> 
>   * it's a pretty standard soulmate au. there's no definitive time when the name of your soulmate appears on your skin; it kind of just happens. some people are just born with it, and others appear over time.
>   * junhui and minghao's marks appeared at the same time. the marks show up on the day of junhui's seventeenth birthday
>   * minghao was terribly shy as a kid. before he met junhui, he didn't interact with many kids so it took him a long time to warm up and break out of his shell.
>   * minghao and junhui started dating during junhui's senior year of high school. they worked well together, and they were content, but they both felt like there was something more out there
>   * that being said, they have a pact that if neither of them are in a relationship by the time minghao's like thirty, they're getting best friend-married
>   * no one is quite sure what "best friend-married" means, but according to minghao, everything is the same except they're best friends who "smash"
>   * but that'll probably never happen because minghao is So Damn Gone for mingyu like he's in love with a capital L.
>   * mingyu and minghao meet because minghao was out walking his dog and mingyu got so excited that he ran across the street to ask if he could pet her
>   * but mingyu being mingyu fell for minghao immediately like he literally tripped over his feet and knocked him over
>   * which led to a cute lil coffee date and minghao rambling for like an hour and a half about that dumb boy and his stupid smile and his stupid hair to Jun, who thinks it's adorable bc when has minghao ever
>   * the boy jun likes is wonwoo bc of course it is. for the longest time, jun just knows him as the cute library boy and it takes him ages to work up the nerve to talk to him but when he does, it is v cute and they both blush a lot
>   * the reason why soon and seokmin are so hesistant to ask about the soulmate thing is bc everyone thinks it's a sore subject so they dance around it a lot. junhao thinks it's hilarious
> 



End file.
